Once I gave my three-year-old niece a certain toy for Christmas. When she opened it, she was happy. Shortly thereafter her five-year old sister opened another present from me: the same toy, along with some play jewelry. The three-year-old cried out: “That’s not fair! Why’d she get the jewelry, too?!”READ MORE

Happy Sunday!

Praise to you O Lord for a wonderful and blessed community of Saint Joan of Arc parish. My heart is filled with gratitude with the over 40 ministries our family has to offer. Thank you to our staff and volunteers for making our Ministries Fair a success.

Happy Sunday!

This past May I led a pilgrimage to Mexico to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Saint Toribio Romo, Saint Jose Sanchez del Rio and the area of the Mexican martyrs in Guanajuato, Guadalajara & Sahuayo. It was on May 3 when I discovered the celebration of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated in Mexico instead of September 14.

Happy Sunday!

One of the many blessings at our parish home is the wonderful VOLUNTEERS! This week we pause for a brief moment to say THANK YOU and celebrate the service many provide behind the scenes. We are so grateful for our founding members who have given hours of time, love and energy in various ways. We at Saint Joan of Arc parish are a grateful community and want to honor you on the Feast of the Birth of Mary on September 8th with a special gathering of food and fellowship.

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.