Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Every week after Mass and several times during the week, I am asked to bless various articles of faith that may have been purchased at our gift shop. Fr. Greg and I are certainly glad to do so because these various images of Saints, candles, holy cards etc., are important aspects of one's prayer. You have seen the beautiful statues around our campus. These are also meant to assist us in our prayer and to help us become better disciples of Our Lord. Beautiful and holy images are meant to reveal the beauty and holiness of God.

Many Catholics have these same images, statues, holy objects in their homes. If you do not have Catholic articles of faith in your home, then I strongly encourage you consider doing this very soon. The use of material objects or sacramentals i.e., holy water, candles, statues, medals, holy cards, scapulars, to name a few, are meant to lead us closer to Christ and live as a better Christian, a better disciple of Jesus. Obviously we would treat these sacred items with respect and reverence because they assist us in our relationship with God.

Pope Francis asked a question that might make some of us squirm if he asked it directly to us. He said, "I would like to ask you – but don't say it aloud, everyone respond in his or her heart: when was the last time you made your Confession? Everyone think about it…is it two days, two weeks, two years, twenty years, forty years? And if much time has passed, do not lose another day. Go! The priest will be good. Jesus is there, and Jesus is even more benevolent than priests. Jesus receives you. He receives you with much love. Be courageous and go to Confession!"

He continued with a line that reminds me that first and foremost, Pope Francis, is a pastor who is acutely aware of parish life. He said, "When one is in line for Confession, we feel those things which weigh on our hearts; but when one finishes Confession one leaves free, grand, beautiful, forgiven, candid, happy. This is the beauty of Confession!"

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Abraham is our Father in Faith. He is our Father in faith because he has showed us what it means to make a free decision to serve God and trust God completely. Abraham had many options - many so called gods that he could worship. He chose not to worship at the altar of the gods of prosperity and technology to name a few. He was rewarded greatly for his good and holy decision. Those who decide to worship at the altar of false gods are heading for misery.

Many people choose to worship at the altar of false gods in our current culture. One obvious example is the choice people have made to worship at the altar of prosperity. To be clear, wealth is not evil. The preoccupation with wealth is evil. It is very tempting to worship at the altar of the gods that will make a person financially comfortable.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We have all experienced worry, stress, and anxiety. At some point in your life you worry about your friends, your homework, your health, your family, your job, and ultimately you worry about your eternal life. We all worry because we are not sure about tomorrow. Most people are afraid of what might or might not happen. Jesus invites us to place our trust in God. In order to trust God, you must serve God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Jesus if very clear about what we are to do. He says in today's Gospel, "No man can serve two masters...You cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon isn't just money. It is anything that we think is more important than God. This is why many people do not have peace. Many have placed their trust in things and people and not trusted God enough. When a person trusts God, says Jesus, that person stops worrying about what will happen (or not happen) tomorrow. When a person trusts God, their primary desire is to know and do God's will.

Lent begins this Ash Wednesday. It is a season of fasting, self-denial, almsgiving and prayer. The season of Lent begins with a symbol of repentance: placing ashes on our foreheads to remind us of the brevity of our lives and our need for a Savior. We have four Masses scheduled that day to allow you to get the season off on the right foot. The Mass schedule for Ash Wednesday, March 5, is: 7:00am, 8:30am, 5:00pm in English and 7:00pm in Spanish.

The season of Lent invites us to surrender something important - be it TV or sweets or meat, or snacking or negative attitudes or less than noble habits. All of these sacrifices are meant to bring us to a greater connection to the awesome love of Jesus Christ and the ultimate sacrifice that He offered for us and for our salvation. He died for us so that death may no longer have power over us.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

One of the truly dramatic scenes in Sacred Scripture is when one of the temple guards strikes Our Lord on the cheek and Jesus did not strike back. Jesus simply asked, "why did you hit me?" (Jn 18:23)

Our Lord does not resist to the evil person. This does not mean Jesus is a doormat to be walked on. Jesus speaks to His attacker because He wants that man's conversion. In the same way, Our Lord invites us to do good not only to lovable people, but even to the unlovable. Every one of us has been unlovable at times. God knows our every thought, motive and action - and He continues to care for each of us. Jesus' example of forgiving those responsible for humiliating and torturing Him shows us the way. Those people responsible for humiliating and torturing Him are you and me.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

To be Christian is to love God. To follow Christ requires us to live and act and believe a certain way. God is very clear about obeying His commandments. Our Lord reminds us of the importance of these commandments when He says, "Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Part of keeping Our Lord's commandments involves serving and loving our brothers and sisters in need. So, who are our brothers and sisters in need? Everybody! Everyone needs love. We express God's love through serving one another. This is important because doing good for others especially the poor and vulnerable reminds us of who we are as God's children. WE are poor and WE are vulnerable. God has saved us from death through Jesus' perfect sacrifice. Any good we do for others is only because of the goodness of God who has loved us first. Apart from God, we are incapable of loving others. Apart from God, we will do nothing good for others. GOD IS GOOD and GOD IS LOVE.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Each year we are given the chance to Share the Light of Christ. Through the annual Charity and Development Appeal you are able to make a difference in many people's lives. Here are some ways you can make a difference:

Your gift to the CDA supports over 70 community and charitable organizations that assist individuals and families in need or in crisis. These organizations provide an open door to improve the lives of thousands of people across 4 Arizona counties (Mohave, Maricopa, Coconino and Yavapai). The CDA serves the needs of local communities beyond the boundaries of any one parish. As a result more people are served across communities as well as within parishes.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Saturday (February 8), we celebrate the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita who was canonized in 1992. She was born into a prestigious family in 1869 in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Her father was the brother of the village chief. A loving family of three brothers and three sisters surrounded her and she lived a happy, carefree life.

So imagine this happening in your family. Sometime between the ages of 7 and 9, Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped from her home by Arab slave traders who had already kidnapped her elder sister two years earlier. Forced to walk barefoot for 600 miles, she was purchased and resold three additional times into slavery. So traumatized by her abduction, she forget her own name and was named Bakhita (Arabic for lucky) and was forcibly converted to Islam.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

January 22nd marked the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court decision called, "Roe v. Wade." With this decision by our Supreme Court, all legal protection for unborn children was severely diminished if not taken away completely. Since that time, millions of girls and young women have undergone procedures that intentionally destroyed their own children. We pray for their healing and we do not judge them. Few people understand the various pressures that led them to such a decision.

While it may be tempting to judge another person for their actions, Our Lord offers us a holy option. The way a person chooses to live impacts those around them for good or for bad. When we seek holiness, others are drawn closer to God. When we choose to live in sin, our decisions can hurt those around us. Of course everyone fails to make good decisions at times. Our Lord calls us to be honest with our failings and to repent. When a person repents, that person gives himself or herself more completely to the Lord. This will move others to repent and to seek God's mercy as well. Although we are not personally responsible for the bad decisions of others, our life and our decisions - for better or worse - do affect others.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We at St. Joan of Arc Preschool are making plans for the start of a new school year. Already the classrooms are beginning to fill up with eager students ready to learn about God and the things of God. We offer a variety of classes based on the age of your child, along with a Before Care/After Care/Lunch Bunch program that extends the day from 7AM-2:30PM for working families:

Mini 3's (T & Th) 9am-12pm… the child must turn 3 by 12/31 and is fully potty-trained prior to the first day of school.
3 Year olds (M & W & F) 9am-12pm… the child must be 3 by 9/1.
Mini 4's (T & W & Th) 9am-12pm… the child must be 4 by 12/31.
Pre-K (M-Th) 9am-1:30pm… the child must be 4 by 9/1.
Pre-K (M-F) 9am-1:30pm…the child must be 4 by 9/1.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In today's Gospel, we hear a strange conversation between Our Lord and John the Baptist. It is strange because John called people to repentance, to turn away from sin and turn to God. Jesus had no sins. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus doesn't need to repent, and, therefore, He has no need to be baptized. And yet, Our Lord shows up by the river and gets in line anyway. John sees him and objects, but Jesus insists on taking His place right beside the rest of the sinners.

This is exactly what Our Lord does for us at every Mass. Whenever we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving God himself as our nourishment. Our Lord could not be any closer to us than He is in Holy Communion. He desires to take His place right with us!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany. What exactly is an epiphany? Some would say that it is a sudden, profound realization of something important; a breakthrough; a deep and profound understanding of something once mysterious. The Church uses the term to describe God as being made manifest in Jesus Christ. On Christmas we focused on Jesus' humanity. On Epiphany we turn our attention to Christ's divinity. We pause here today, just like the wise men, to pay this Divine Child homage and adoration as only a true King deserves. Next week we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, a dramatic leap forward in Jesus' life when we celebrate the initiation of Jesus' public ministry.