Happy Fourth of July

06-30-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Happy Independence Day!

Wishing you all a very Happy 4th of July on Thursday of this week! As we celebrate the 242 years of independence, we thank God and ask for more blessings and protection for our country. Let us also remember the heroes who gave their lives to give us the freedom and prosperity that we enjoy today. On a personal note, this week has been a special week to me for several reasons. I can’t believe that one year has already gone by since I came to St. Benedict Parish. I will be one year old in this parish on July 1st this week. Coincidentally, I will also be 15 years old as a priest on Wednesday, July 3rd. I thank God who, in His wonderful way, has led me thousands of miles from Africa to live with you here in this parish community. I also thank you for accepting me and making me feel welcome and at home.

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The Solemnity of Corpus Christi

06-23-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Dear Parishioners,

Love the Heat!

Finally, beginning this weekend, the summer is officially here upon us! Having lived here in Arizona for several years now, it is obvious to me that summer is the most challenging time for churches as we deal with empty pews and increasing bills. Recently, out of curiosity, I decided to read some articles to find out about the impact of summer on people’s mood, attitudes and general behaviors, especially here in Arizona. The findings were very interesting. Most studies showed a high correlation between summer and a rise in anger, rage and violence. It is good to be conscious of these facts and pay attention to our mood during the summer time. However, interestingly, I found a few studies that indicated that many people actually look forward to summer for several reasons such as shopping, pool parties, beautiful monsoon storms, less traffic and cheap hotels. I often tell people not to dread coming to Mass during the summer because, by the grace of God through the generosity of our parishioners, we will continue to cool the church and make it comfortable for everyone. We thank God we live at a time when we all have air-conditioning units in our houses, vehicles and churches.

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Happy Father's Day

06-16-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Dear Parishioners,

I wish all fathers in our parish community a Happy Fathers' Day! It is hard to talk about fathers and their roles in the family these days without sounding old-fashioned. However, on this Father's Day, it is good to remind ourselves that, in spite of all the changes in our society, the father always remains a very essential figure in the ideal Christian family. Studies have shown that the crisis of faith among many people today is mostly related to their early life experiences in which a good relationship with a loving father figure was missing. This is essentially because the relationship we have with our earthly fathers often mirrors our relationship with our Heavenly Father, God. Let us pray for all fathers today that they remain faithful to their vocation as fathers and be good role models for their children and society.

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Happy Birthday to the Catholic Church!

06-09-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

The Solemnity of Pentecost that we celebrate today is often referred to as the "Birthday of the Catholic Church." This is because the Church actually started on this day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and gave them the power and courage to go out and preach the Good News to everyone. As we heard in our First Reading today, when the Holy Spirit came and rested on the Apostles, they were all so overwhelmed with the power of the Holy Spirit that they boldly went out of the temple and began to preach in the streets without fear of anyone. From then on, the Apostles and anyone who believed in Jesus were never again allowed to worship in the Jewish temple on the Sabbath day. Therefore, the Apostles gathered together to celebrate the Eucharist on the first day of every week (Sunday) with St. Peter as the first leader of the group (Mt 16:18).

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Ascension of The Lord

--All

Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, which marks the end of his physical presence with his disciples. It is never easy to say “goodbye” to loved ones. However, the Good News with the Ascension of our Lord is that Jesus actually prepared his disciples very well for this moment. In the past week during the daily Masses, we read about how he prepared his disciples by instructing them to stay united in love. He also told them that he would send the Holy Spirit to be with them. Jesus’ ascension into heaven was both a sad and a joyful moment for his disciples. While they were sad that Jesus was leaving them, they also looked forward to the coming of the Holy Spirit who would lead, guide and strengthen them to bear witness to him to the ends of the earth. Jesus also assured them that he would be with them, always, to the end of time (Matthew 28:20).

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6th Sunday of Easter

05-26-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Dear Parishioners,

I sincerely apologize to everyone for postponing our scheduled Parish Listening/Discussion Session last week. The meeting was intended to give me a chance to hear how we are doing as a community. However, we realized at the last minute that this was not the best me to hold the event. You may recall that we had two similar sessions recently; one in the Fall last year to discuss the scandals in the Church, and the other one in February of this year when we discussed our Parish Building Campaign. In the mean time, feel free to contact me personally with your questions and comments. We look forward to having the next session some time in the Fall.

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From Our Seminarian

05-19-2019Weekly ReflectionConnor Companik

Dear Parishioners of St. Benedict,

As I near the end of my first year at St. John Vianney Seminary, I want to update you on how this semester has been, and the many blessings I've received during my time here. First of all, thank you for all the prayers you've offered for me—I've met many of you the few times I've been home throughout the year and I was overwhelmed at the number of people who not only recognized me, but told me they prayed for me every day. It means a lot and helps me to feel connected with the parish while I'm away, especially during this "Spirituality Year" when we have limited access to the internet, e-mail, and most forms of communication.

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Good Shepherd Sunday

05-12-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Dear Parishioners,

In the Catholic tradition, this Fourth Sunday after Easter is dedicated as Good Shepherd Sunday and is kept as a Special Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and the Religious Life. The idea of shepherd and sheep may not make much sense to many people in the western culture and especially in this generation. However, we can see the equivalent of this in our relationship with our pets. We know that even the most impatient person learns how to be patient with pets because we know their limitations and understand how much they depend on us. Jesus chose the image of shepherd to teach us the nature of God's love for mankind. In the Jewish culture, sheepherding is more of a vocation rather than a job.

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Third Sunday of Easter

05-05-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Dear Parishioners,

Congratulations to all those who will celebrate their First Holy Communion and Confirmation this weekend. The children and teens have worked so hard throughout the year preparing for this great day. We rejoice with all of them for this big achievement and for this memorable day in their lives. I want to thank the teachers, parents and sponsors who supported them along their journey to these Sacraments. Also, many thanks to the Catechists, volunteers and the parents/guardians of these children for this wonderful year of faith and learning.

Just a quick clarification on two important Liturgical questions during the Easter Week.

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The Divine Mercy

04-28-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi, VC

The message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska. St. Faustina was an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy before she died in 1938. The central message of The Divine Mercy is that God loves us all, no matter how great our sins may be, and that He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins. Thus, we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Beginning on Good Friday and continuing for nine days, The Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers are prayed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the hour that Jesus died on the cross. The devotion was actively promoted by Pope John Paul II who, on April 30, 2000, canonized St. Faustina and officially designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. He was so devoted to The Divine Mercy that, I believe, it was not by coincidence that he died on the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday on April 2, 2005.

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Aleluia! He is Risen!

04-21-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi, VC

The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ gives us the hope of life after death and, above all, the knowledge that God has power over life and death. By His death and Resurrection, Jesus ushered in a new creation transforming all believers into that new creation (2 Cor 5:17). The first people to experience this transforming power of the Resurrection were His disciples. During the Passion of Jesus Christ, they were paralyzed with so much fear that they denied him and ran away into hiding. All this changed when they saw the Risen Christ! The stories about the lives of the Apostles after the death of Jesus, in the Acts of the Apostles, show that the power of the Resurrection overwhelmed and transformed them so much that they were no longer afraid of anything. It is this power of the Resurrection that we are celebrating today! Easter is so important to us that every daily Mass, throughout this week, will be celebrated as the Easter Sunday Mass, also known as the Octave of Easter.

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New Music Director and Holy Week

04-14-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Congratulations to Mr. Nick Garza for being selected as our new Music Director. Nick comes with many years of experience in the music ministry and worship leadership. He is also the owner of Nick Garza Productions, specializing in Audio and Video Media Engineering. Nick's wife, Nikki is also a Church musician and worship leader. Nick, Nikki and their four children will be joining us at Mass this weekend. Please join me in welcoming Nick and his family to our parish community. I pray their ministry will bring many blessings to our parish community. I thank everyone for your prayers, patience and understanding during the past five weeks while we were searching for our new Music Director. My special thanks to the Choir members for the wonderful music, even in the absence of a Music Director.

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Fifth Sunday of Lent

04-07-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Dear Parishioners,

I would like to thank all those who participated in the Lenten Penance Service during the week. I really appreciate the good turn out and active participation during the service. Also, thanks to those who attended the St John Bosco Gala (A Night to Dream Big). Through your generous support to the school, we were able to raise over $50,000. This fund will go toward the purchase of books and educational materials needed in the Library and classrooms.

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